


The Orchard

by azuredragonsleeps



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Slavery, BAMF Tony Stark, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Bruce Banner, Hurt/Comfort, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23318134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azuredragonsleeps/pseuds/azuredragonsleeps
Summary: "They didn't bother to tell him that he was going to be sold. He was only a monster after all. He only found out when one of his guards told another that Tony Stark was buying the hulk."In a dystopian future where slavery is in full swing in America, Bruce Banner is made a slave and held for experimentation by General Ross after his failed attempt to recreate the super soldier serum. Rich playboy Tony Stark has a reputation for getting through slaves fast, but he has more secrets than anyone realises. When he hears about what happened to Bruce, he decides to get invovled.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Avengers Team, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'll level with you, I wrote this fic when I was fifteen, back when we all still believed in the found family avengers saving the world and living together in Stark tower. But really, what is isolation for if not for rewriting fanfiction you'd forgotten you'd written and publishing it for no reason??

They didn't bother to tell him that he was going to be sold. He was only a monster after all. He only found out when one of his guards told another that Tony Stark was buying the hulk. 

Bruce remembered Stark from when he was free. He'd always admired the man's work, but had disapproved of him in general, with his reputation as a shallow party goer and a man who got through slaves fast. There'd always been speculation about what happened to the numerous slaves the man bought, and it was generally assumed that he must be one of those people who bought slaves to torture, maim and kill. When he was free, the idea had horrified Bruce. Now he thought that there couldn't be anything worse than what he'd already experienced, and the idea that Stark might someday put him out of his misery is one that only brought relief. 

It was roughly a few days after this when Stark arrived at the compound. It was hard to tell, because Bruce was kept chained in a windowless, constantly lit room, and the drugs they kept him on to stop him transforming made everything fuzzy. There were three experiments- sharp pain and green anger, and then more pain and black as the drug stops him transforming-in the time though, and he thought there's usually only one of these each day. 

He was still reeling from the pain of the last of these when they entered his cell, barely able to move. He heard the heavy bars of the door being slid back, and the footsteps entering the room, but didn't look up until a heavy boot kicked him hard in the stomach. 

"Position." A voice ordered, one of the nameless, constantly rotating guards that populate the compound. 

Bruces struggled gracelessly, and managed to push himself into the kneeling position he'd been trained to assume, made more difficult by his injuries and the heavy chains that were short enough to ensure that this position is as far off the ground as he can reach. He took a deep breath to try and steady himself and risked a glance upwards. 

There were two of the nameless guards, one next to him and one by the door. Standing directly in front of him was General Ross, which almost made Bruce whimper aloud, because his presence had only ever meant new and inventive ways to bring Bruce pain. The man had somehow both dismissed Bruce as an inhuman beast, and retained all of his personal hatred for Bruce the man, and actively delighted in his power over him. Today his face was arranged carefully, all polite smile and gentle friendship and goodwill, but Bruce could tell that underneath it he was hiding a deep anger. Next to him, his posture loose and easy, was Stark. He was wearing an expensive looking black suit and his face was adiating arrogance, but like Ross, there was clearly something underneath it. Bruce wasn't sure what it was, but there was something dark in Stark's eyes. 

"You sure you want to go through with this Stark?" Ross asked, "He's not easy to handle."

Stark grinned, wide and sharp, "I think I can manage it." 

A flicker of annoyance crossed Ross's face. "The team here are making great strides-"

"Yes, I've heard all about your so called progress." Stark interrupted, his voice still calm. "It's all very impressive, I'm sure. Not impressive enough for your bosses though I gather, since they were all to happy to accept my offer." He paused. "There were rumours that you were getting a little too obsessive, you know. I'm doing you a favour really."

Ross's face contorted and for a moment, it looked like he might make a move to strike Stark. "Fuck you Stark." He growled. "You can't just buy your way to whatever you want!"

Stark simply smiled. "It would appear that, at least in this case, I can."

"Fine." Ross spat. "You're on your own then. Don't expect our help for transporting it. And if it gets loose, I'll make sure you get taken down for it, I promise you." He turned and stalked out of the room. 

There was a pause, and then Stark said to the two guards. "You can go too now, thank you." 

When they'd left, he pressed a button on his watch, took another step towards Bruce, then, oddly, knelt in front of him, so they were the same height. Bruce had spent a year being experimented on, had been tortured over and over again by people who viewed him as less than human, so at this point he thought he was prepared for anything. The fear though, that hadn't gone away. Even as he knew that nothing Stark did to him now could be worse than what had already been done, he couldn't suppress the flair of panic, or the edges of green on his vision, held off by the drug. He couldn't stop the flinch as Stark reached forward. 

Stark paused for a long moment, then let his hand fall back to his side and said, "It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner."

The words hit Bruce like a blow. It hurt, so much, to be reminded of what he'd been, what he'd never be again. Doctor Banner no longer existed, all that was left was a monster, a slave. Which of course, he thought, must be why Stark had said it, to remind him of how far he'd fallen. As if he didn't already know. 

Stark seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction from Bruce, which was odd. No one had cared about his reactions, outside of logging them in an experiment, for a long time. 

When he didn't move, Stark lifts his wrist to his mouth, and said "JARVIS, we good to go?"

For half a second, Bruce wondered if the man was crazy, but then a calm British voice responded. "Yes, Sir. All of their systems are ready to be disabled should they make a move to stop you from leaving."

"So." Stark smiled just a little, then looked back at Bruce, meeting his eyes. "I don't know what you know about me, but I'm going to assume it's not good. You probably hate me, and you'd be an idiot if you trusted me at all. But I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to get you out of-", he paused and made a vague gesture to the chains, "this, and then I'm going to take you out of this place. My car's outside. Okay?" 

Bruce blinked. He hadn't been directly addressed, like he was a person and not a thing, in more than a year. He knew he couldn't trust Stark, he knew it was probably part of an act the man put on to mess with his slaves, but in that moment the overwhelming relief that came with simply being acknowledged as a person took over. 

"Okay." He rasped out, his throat aching with the strain after so long. 

Stark smiled slightly. He reached forward, slower this time, and put his fingers to the locking mechanism on Bruce's chains. They were fingerprint controlled, and Stark had clearly been given access because seconds after he pressed the side of the manacle on his wrist they fell open. Bruce rubbed his hands together, savouring the momentary freedom. Another moment, and the shackles on his legs were also removed.

Stark stood up and took a half step back, giving Bruce a moment. 

Then he asked, "Can you stand?" 

Bruce tried, and got half way up before his legs buckled. In an instant, Stark had moved forward, catching him. Bruce stiffened, not sure what to do with the contact when it didn't immediately turn invasive or painful. Stark simply stood there until Bruce managed to get his balance, and then he pulled one of Bruce's arms over his shoulders. He was stronger than he looked, Bruce noted. 

"Right." Stark said. "Just one step at a time."

They made it a few steps towards the door, but with every step pain overwhelmed Bruce, coming from the cuts in his stomach, still unhealed from the experiments of the day before. The months without being able to use his muscles properly probably haven't helped either he thought, almost hysterical with the pain. He made a desperate noise, a wishful plea for help and cry of resignation all at once, and slipped into blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony sat staring out the window of his limo as they drove home, his hand tapping his thigh. He blew out a breath, then glanced again at the man on the seat opposite him. He'd laid Bruce out on the bench seat and tossed a blanket over him, trusting that Happy would drive carefully enough that he could rest undisturbed. The man was thin and pale, dark bruises under his eyes testifying to a lack of sleep. His body was littered with other bruises, which shouldn't even be possible with his powers, but Tony suspected they'd done so much to him that they'd eventually overwhelmed his healing abilities. He was hoping that time would be all that it took for those to kick in again. Time, and getting whatever drugs they'd been giving him out of his system.

He looked away. The whole thing had left him shaken, off-balance in a way he hadn't expected. It wasn't like he hadn't done this sort of thing before-although he did it less personally now, tried to allay suspicion- but somehow this had been, well. The way they'd had him chained up like an animal in a cage. The footage they'd shown him, from the lab. That had nearly made him throw up. And how proud they'd been, how the scientists had been so enthused about the discoveries they'd been making from "the subject". They'd been trying to convince him to leave Bruce, probably on Ross's orders. Tony had pissed off quite a few people with this particular purchase, but everything he'd seen today made him only too glad he'd listened to Natasha's intel. 

There was a slight rustle of the blankets, and then Bruce opened his eyes. He looked fearfully around, confusion and dread present in equal measure in his gaze. His eyes landed on Tony for a fraction of a second, and then he looked down, his breath quickening. 

"It's okay." Tony said, trying to keep his voice even. "You're in my car, we're heading to my house. You fainted back there, so I carried you out. Feel free to sit up if you feel up to it."

Bruce did, although the movement looked painful. "You carried me?" He asked, his voice slightly skeptical. 

Tony nodded. "Yup." After he'd had JARVIS shut off their security cameras, of course. He didn't want Ross to know how he'd managed that. He wondered idly what Ross had expected. Did he think that without help Tony would just have given up? Or, more likely, had he not thought it through at all, so caught up in his anger. Now was not the time to discuss that with Bruce though.

Instead he said, "You were out for a while. We're about an hour out." 

Bruce tensed slightly. The movement was so small it was almost imperceptible, but Tony had gotten very good at reading people over the years. Probably the idea of arriving anywhere new suggested only bad things for the man. 

"I meant what I said before." he said "Im not going to hurt you."

Bruce let out an exhalation of air, which Tony suspected was his version of a snort of derision. "You expect me to believe you bought me out of the goodness of your heart?" 

Tony looked at him for a moment. For the first time since he'd woken up, Bruce looked him in the eye. 

"No." Tony answered, slowly. "I don't really expect you to believe anything I say. I wouldn't, if I were you. But if you don't believe I'd buy you out of the goodness of my heart, would you believe me if I said I'd bought you for your mind?" 

It was true, in a way. The only reason he'd ever asked Nat to find Bruce was because he'd read one of the man's papers from years ago. It had been utterly brilliant, and Tony had been struck, when he'd read it, at the memory of incident, and the scandal in the scientific community. A sentence of slavery for the kind of mistake that caused a lab explosion wasn't unheard of, but there had been rumours that there was more to it. So Tony had asked Natasha to dig. 

Bruce shook his head, ever so slightly. "I won't help you recreate the hulk. They-they tried that. I wouldn't help them, not even to make it all stop. You can't do anything worse to me than what they've already done." The last sentence was said with such a leaden conviction that Tony was filled with the urge to turn around. He shouldn't have left anyone in that facility alive.

"I don't want you to recreate the hulk." he told Bruce, trying to put all of his sincerity into his tone. Then he grinned. "Besides, I don't need to try and recreate your experiments, I've already got Steve Rogers' blood."

*

Bruce gaped for a second, then quickly hid his reaction. There wasn't supposed to be any of Steve Rogers' blood in existence. If there had been, he would never have done his experiments. He wouldn't be... what he is. It couldn't be true. But then he thought, Stark. His father ran the super soldier program. He could have had it all this time and never told anyone. The implications were staggering. The military had been worried about what Stark was capable of even years ago, but if the man had figured out the super soldier serum… 

Stark didn't say anything else, just returned his attention to a tablet in his lap. Bruce turned his attention to his own situation. It felt strange, after to so long, to be unrestrained. He suspected it was only because Stark knew he was too weak to be any kind of threat right now, but it still felt like a luxury. His head felt a little clearer than it had for the past year, so the drugs were probably wearing off. The hulk still couldn't get out though. He didn't know if that was good or bad, because he still, after all this time, didn't want to hurt anybody, but he was also really, really, tired of being hurt. 

Stark was obviously lying, but Bruce couldn't really understand why. Perhaps it was part of whatever games he played with his slaves, building up their hopes before he hurt them. If he really didn't want Bruce as a weapon, he probably wanted him because of his advanced healing capacities. Everyone knew Stark wore slaves out. Maybe he'd wanted someone a bit more durable. Bruce tried to control a tremor. 

It was probably worth trying to rest now, before they got to wherever they were going, but he also didn't want to be taken unawares by whatever was going to happen next. In the end, his body made the choice for him. Exhausted, he fell back into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it took me more than a month to update. I'd apologise but there's a global pandemic and I'm writing a dissertation. Anyways, the chapter after this is already written and it's quite a bit longer, so I'll give you that tomorrow to make up for it!

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat at starsarewishesindisguise on tumblr. Comments/kudos appreciated <3


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